COMPLIANCE COUNSELOR
Laptop security policy: Key to avoiding infection
Ed Tittel
09.16.2003
Rating: -3.86- (out of 5)
|
I'm taking a short emergency break from my ongoing series on security policy document library elements to sound a note of caution regarding the handling of traveling employee laptops.
In the wake of recent discussions with several Fortune 500 companies whose internal networks were safe from the onslaught of Blaster, Welchia, SoBig and others, but some or all of whose traveling sales or technical staff got infected by same, I've started to recognize that security policy for laptops is pretty darn important. Although these companies were able to withstand big impacts from these worms, others weren't so lucky. Entire groups or departments of salespeople or technical staff found themselves essentially disconnected from e-mail and network access for anywhere from a full day to as long as a week, depending on how soon they could get their machines repaired and recovered.
In light of this situation, I can't stress enough how important it is to develop and implement security policy for laptops, and to keep remote and roving workers as safe as those behind corporate firewalls and other infrastructure elements. To that end, I'm going to refer to a recent po
To continue reading for free, register below or login
To read more you must become a member of SearchSecurity.com
sting by Microsoft (yes, that paragon of security itself) that actually makes a great starting point for laptop security policy, then add a few additional recommendations.
At www.microsoft.com/security/protect you'll find the following admonitions. "3 steps to ensure your PC is protected:
If followed, this simple prescription would have protected all of the people whose machines were essentially taken out of service by these worms.
The missing details, of course, require some expansion of this simple but effective list:
With these simple policy elements in force, laptops needn't pose any more of a threat to security than other systems in use.
Please feel free to e-mail me with feedback comments, or questions at etittel@yahoo.com.
[IMAGE]About the author
Ed Tittel is Vice President of Content Services at iLearning, a CapStar company based in Austin, Texas. As creator and series editor for Exam Cram 2, Ed's worked on numerous titles on Microsoft, Novell, CompTIA and security certifications, including Security+, CISSP and TICSA.
For more information on this topic, visit these resources:
|
|
Rate this Tip
|
To rate tips, you must be a member of SearchSecurity.com.
Register now
to start rating these tips. Log in if you are already a member.
|
DISCLAIMER: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
